Not there
by Yassen obsessive
Summary: Alex is sent to Brecon Beacons after a tragedy. What happens when K-unit meet their fifth member once again? What will they find out? I know it isn't an original storyline but I have put my own twist on it! Not slash / rated T for language. R&R . thanks .
1. Chapter 1

**Not There!**

**A.N. Ok this time I promise to continue writing this one. And I really do, after I put the first chapter up of LSATYD some shit happened that made me go off the storyline altogether. I might write more of it in the future when I've….calmed down. Um… well as you can tell this isn't one of my usual twilight FF's, I've decided to start an Alex Rider one. I'm kind of going on a bit but I don't care. This definitely isn't the most original story line but I enjoy reading it so… yeah I better get on with it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider books or characters, they belong to Anthony Horowitz. I am also not making any profit from writing this Fan fiction.**

**Word count: 1,722**

**Chapter 1:** Shit happens

Alex's 15th birthday was two weeks ago Jack had arranged a surprise party for him, he would have preferred a night in but he hadn't wanted to offend her by refusing, he let her have her fun.

MI6 hadn't been in touch since the incident in Kenya and the burns on his body were nearly healed. Unfortunately they were going t leave nasty scars…Oh well just a few more to add to his sizeable collection.

He had woken up early that morning (for obvious reasons) and still had a few hours before school started. He was sitting at the kitchen table, hands wrapped around a steaming mug of coffee; letting himself warm up after a cold shower.

He sat in silence, listening to the ticking of the clock on the mantle and the murmuring of nature's early-wakers. He knew he couldn't call Tom like he wanted to; he had to tell him he was going to be there today. He should have told him last night but Jack had sent him straight to bed.

At that moment his watch alarm trilled shrilly wrenching him out of the depths of his mind. He must have been sitting there longer than he realised, it was 7:00 already and Jack should be waking up, he still had another hour before school but at least he wouldn't have to wait by himself.

He stood slowly straightening his clothes as he went, he could hear his housekeeper cursing to herself upstairs.

"Jack!" He called "Do you want coffee?"

After hearing the usual grunt, he poured some of his premade coffee into jacks mug (This one showing the supposedly humorous slogan of 'Hate me...I'm a morning person'.)

He made his way up the stairs, clutching the aforesaid mug in hand. A ruffled looking red-head snatched it and took a long draft.

"Ahhhhh," She moaned "so much better"

"So…Jack" Alex asked, smirking "Haven't you got a job interview today?"

"Shit!" she shrieked, scurrying back to her bedroom and slamming the door. Alex looked at his watch. 7:10. Jack had ten minutes to shower, dress and eat before leaving. Well that wasn't going to happen… maybe skip the eating part and she could round it down to 15 but either way she was going to be late!

Jack had told Alex last week about the job interview; a secretary to a businessman that neither of them had heard of. But it was well paid and as MI6 weren't going to give him any of the money Ian had left for him so they needed the cash.

Alex had started to wonder whether MI6 were ever going to give him the money. They _said_ that they would give it to him at the age of 18 but they had sent him on so many seemingly impossible missions that it could have been one of Blunts insane plots to take over the Rider fortune.

He decided to ask Blunt the next time they called him in. He smiled to himself evilly.

"What's the scary grin for?" a presentable-ish looking Jack asked, coming into the kitchen.

"I'll tell you later" Alex said "right now I've got to bike to school" he headed out the kitchen.

"Bye!" he called slipping out the front door.

He grabbed his bike from the front lawn and started to cycle down the road, he had forgotten to tell Tom that he would be at school. Well he was in for a surprise!

Alex arrived at school 20 minutes early, he sat down at one of the picnic benches and took out his Maths textbook.

He had spent some of his time at home studying but he knew he would be way behind the rest of his class. He had managed to perfect his language skills though and he had attempted to learn Russian. It was quite a rough, crass language (**A.N. no offense to the Russian language but it isn't exactly gentile is it?)** but it felt right to be learning it.

After all Yassen had been Russian…

He stopped thinking right there, this was his 'normal' life he needed to get back into the routine of normality. He must still be in mission mode. He immersed himself in his textbook reading up on concrete and abstract nouns.

Even though he was concentrating, he still heard the quiet footsteps coming up behind him. He started to panic but he recognised the squeak of the trainers his attacker was wearing. He waited until the person was right behind him; before leaning back and whispering in his stalkers ear,

"Hey Tom" he grinned as he heard his best friends yelp of surprise.

"I don't get it Al how do you always get me?" he whined, stamping his foot like a toddler having a tantrum.

"You're not exactly quiet Tom" Alex said grinning at his friends antics.

Tom grinned back, but the smile quickly fell away turning into a frown. It was almost comic but his friend was now looking uncharacteristically serious.

"Where did they send you this time?"

"Well _they_ didn't actually send me anywhere this time!" Alex answered

"I was taken…"he didn't finish, he wasn't sure if he was comfortable enough to speak about his experience in Kenya yet. He decided not. The image of snapping teeth flashed through his mind. Definitely not!

"Alex!" Tom shouting his name broke through his thoughts.

"W-what?" His said stumbling over the word.

"You zoned out," his friend replied "I was saying that we should get to class,"

Alex stood and walked with his friend to his form room.

He headed into the room and sat down in his usual place next to Tom. Nobody seemed to have noticed him and he liked it that way. His tutor, Mr Mason, entered and sat down at the cheap wooden desk at the front. His eyes swept the room passing over Alex completely.

Mr Mason called out the register; he came to Alex's name and passed on without even waiting for an answer to the called out 'Rider'.

He heard the clear 'yes sir' a few seconds later and looked up eyebrows raised,

"So your back then?"

"Obviously" Alex replied sarcastically

Mr Mason sighed at Alex's comment and asked,

"What was it this time?"

"Tonsillitis sir," Alex grinned and waved the bit of paper that was clutched in his fist "I have a note."

"Of course you do," His Tutor sighed again and moved on.

The aforesaid Tutor was worried about his pupil; Alex had been off school more than he had been in it since his uncle died. There were rumours among the students, stating his drug addiction and the fact that he was the leader of a gang.

The problem was that the rumour weren't just limited to the children. Some of the staff had been gossiping about drugs and counselling. The man couldn't see his pupil as a drug user and the prospect that he was in a gang was just foolish. He would have to keep an eye on Alex rider!

Alex walked to first lesson with Tom, it was French ; he didn't need to go to this lesson he knew that, he would rather catch up on the subjects he wasn't as good at, such as science or English. But he didn't want to be singled out as different, (well more different than he already was) so he carried on.

As usual the work was easy and his teacher, Madame Fournier was impressed, she, along with Mr Mason was the only teacher who didn't think Alex was a 'problem child'. He didn't blame the other teachers and students. It was the obvious thing to think, he would, if he were in their situation would probably think the same!

Alex carried on through the day dealing with the gossiping students around him and the suspicious glances of any member of staff who crossed his path.

When lunch came a message came over the intercom.

"Would Alex Rider please come to the office?"

He glanced around and left Tom sitting at the lunch table with promises to be back soon.

As he entered the office, he immediately noticed the man clad in a black suit and sunglasses standing stiffly by the door.

Miss Bedfordshire bustled over looking disapproving

"Alex," She said "you forgot about your dentist's appointment!"

"Oh yes" he replied slowly, piercing the obvious agent with a glare "so I did"

Miss Bedfordshire looked between the two and shook her head,

"Alex what are you missing this afternoon? I need to inform your teacher"

"Only Spanish" He replied, glancing at her, before returning his eyes to the agent.

She moved towards her computer and said,

"Okay, you may go then"

The agent moved for the first time after entering the room and grabbed Alex's arm, pulling him out of the building and towards a waiting black car.

"Careful, no need to be pushy!" Alex whined

"I was told not to let you run off," the agent said in an emotionless tone, not even attempting to sound apologetic.

"Fine whatever lets go" Alex spoke calmly not letting his annoyance show. He climbed into the car making sure to wipe his dirty trainers on the side of the unusually spotless machine.

The car sped off as soon as the door slammed, turning round a sharp corner towards Liverpool street.

**A.N. There we go the first chapter. I will update every week until this story is done. Well within reason XD.**

**~ Yassen Obsessive**


	2. Chapter 2

**Not There**

**A.N. See I did it in a week, the next chappie…hope you enjoy it.**

**Word count: 1,600**

**Chapter 2: **Unfortunate

The car arrived outside the Royal and General bank and he was pulled to the building. His eyes rested for a few seconds on a slightly darker patch of the pavement, he shuddered feeling slightly ill all of a sudden. His escort glanced at him warily and pulled him at a slightly faster pace into the building.

Mrs Jones was waiting in the lobby for him and indicated that he should follow her straight into the elevator, her heeled shoes clicking against the smooth marble floor.

The journey up to Blunt's office was taken in silence. Alex looked at Mrs Jones her usually calm demeanour ruffled and her face pinched in worry. Something was definitely up and Alex didn't like it!

The grey man, in the grey suit looked up as Alex entered the room.

"Alex," He said "we have a problem…"

"I'm not helping" Alex interrupted quickly "I told you…I'm not doing this anymore!"

"No Alex, it's not a mission," Mrs Jones interjected gently "There's something wrong"

Alex looked up at her, brown eyes serious, deliberately ignoring Blunt.

"What is it?" he asked her.

The man obviously didn't like to be ignored and decided to answer that question that had been obviously asked of Mrs Jones,

"You have been threatened by SCORPIA," Blunt said, well, bluntly (**A.N. Pun intended XD)**

Alex stared at him, blinked slowly and collapsed into the chair Mrs. Jones had conveniently placed behind him. He couldn't believe it SCORPIA again! Wait hadn't MI6 made a deal with them. Yes they had, at least they had told him so. He looked up at Blunt almost casually and said,

"I thought you sorted them out in regards to me"

Mr Blunt and Mrs. Jones glanced at each other before Jones answered cautiously,

"Well we did after the 'Invisible Sword' fiasco" she started

"But after the Snakehead assignment we assumed they would leave you alone…" she trailed off, watching Alex carefully, analysing his every move!

He didn't know what to say so he decided on nothing; he controlled the emotions inside him that were threatening to take over. None of his inner turmoil showed on his face; he knew Mrs Jones and probably Blunt would notice if it did!

"So what are you going to do about it? He demanded,

"Because this time, I'm not going on a mission because of an oversight on your behalf!" He finished fiercely letting the emotion finally crack through into his voice.

"Don't worry Alex…" Mrs. Jones began to say, before being cut off once again by the almighty boss of MI6.

"We have decided to send you back to the SAS. You will be under the best protection the country has to offer there, and," Blunt almost let a smirk show through his usually blank mask "of course you will be able to pick up some new skills while you are there!"

Alex stared at him wide-eyed, he knew there was no point in arguing though and just asked,

"For how long?"

"Only until the threat is neutralised Alex," Mrs. Jones said softly.

Alex looked at both of them, opened his mouth, as if to say something then closed it swiftly. He couldn't put words around the anger that was boiling inside him. Instead he asked another question which was bugging him.

"What will happen to Jack?"

"Miss Starbright will be under 24-hour protection until you are back" Blunt said

Alex nodded his head once; he knew that if he was with her the 24-hour protection would not be enough to stop SCORPIA. His previous entanglements with them had left him in no doubt of their skill and if they wanted him he would move to the other side of the world to protect Jack.

"Is that all?" he asked not bothering to be polite

"Yes Alex," Mrs Jones replied, "But, if you don't mind, will you go and see Smithers on the way out; he requested to speak with you."

Alex nodded again, Smithers' lab wasn't exactly on the way out but he always glad to visit the exuberant gadget maker. He slid out the chair and turned towards the door. He was on his way out when Blunt spoke up:

"Be ready by 4:00 tomorrow afternoon Alex" and then as an afterthought "Pack light"

Alex didn't look back at the accursed grey man but just carried on, out of the door and down the hall. At least they had given him enough time to explain to Jack and Tom what was going on.

When he reached the elevator he released the breath he hadn't realised he was holding and the rage, yet again, reared its ugly head! He punched the wall, next to the opening elevator doors, hard not noticing the pain that shot up his arm.

He took a deep breath and counted down from ten, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was being ridiculous; Alex Rider did **not** lose control, it was not in his nature to. He glanced down at his sluggishly bleeding knuckles and sighed, that man made him so damned angry!

After calming down he stepped into the elevator and stabbed the button marked 'Basement'. It was sort of ironic that the Gadget Makers lab was in the lower levels of the building, just like James Bond, he thought. He cursed himself silently, this was not a film. This wasn't some cheesy movie where the main character couldn't get hurt…couldn't die.

The elevator beeped shrilly, signalling his arrival, he stepped out, looking at his familiar surroundings.

A man, or maybe two, looked up, a smile lighting his face as he saw who his visitor was.

"Alex my dear boy, how are you?" Smithers said in his typically British way.

"Holding up, Mr Smithers, holding up" He replied,

Smithers' smile faltered and he said,

"Well I suppose I know why" he glanced at Alex's still bleeding hand knowingly, "He gets you down sometimes, doesn't he?"

"Yep" Alex replied genuinely smiling now, no matter how far he fell after a meeting with Blunt, Smithers could always bring him back up.

"Anyway…" The Gadget maker interjected tactfully "down to business, I have been making some gadgets and although they aren't exactly according with the boss' rules, I think they may be useful."

Smithers leant down and pulled open the bottom draw of his desk, he rummaged for a few seconds before bringing out a long, chunky, leather belt and laying it on the desk top.

"This," He said "contains a weapon, so I would appreciate it if you didn't tell Mr Blunt"

Alex nodded (He seemed to be doing that a lot this afternoon) and gestured for Smithers to continue.

"Well… here," Smithers pointed to a leather ring on the side of the belt,

"Is where you will keep the knife I will show you in a second, but that is not the magic of this belt. All you have to do is pull the front off the buckle" He demonstrated slowly-for dramatic effect, Alex was sure- raising the front of the buckle, revealing a miniature pistol with a mother of pearl handle.

"And you will find a miniature pistol, to be used only in emergencies." He said glancing at Alex meaningfully. " It has two bullets already in it but if you slice open the belt you will find another 6 normal bullets, 6 darts full of sedative and 4 blanks."

"Great, thank you Mr Smithers," Alex said "but why the sudden change of heart about the gun thing"

"Well I feel that if you have SCORPIA after you, you have got to have something to protect yourself with. I also have this," He pulled out a short lethal-looking dagger with a beautifully carved white ash handle. "Again, for use only in emergencies, I trust you know how to use it?" Alex just nodded; taking the dagger tentatively from the gadget-master and slid it into place on the belt; he then, pulled the belt around his waist, pulling his school shirt over it hiding it from sight. Smithers sighed as he watched this young boy handle a dagger with such familiarity but carried on without regret, the boy needed something protect himself.

"Okay, next we have a refill of the spot cream –from your first mission- you know what to do; a set of exploding coins like you used in Bangkok, but in 5p, 10p and 50p denominations and finally a watch that will send a signal to MI6 if you set the time to 12:00," Smithers took a deep breath.

"That was a long sentence," Alex remarked, the gadget maker handed over the gadgets after placing them in a plain black duffel bag.

"The bag itself is also a gadget; there is a secret pocket on the inside that will hide anything from metal-detectors and all sorts of signals. Now get out of here you, I have work to do!" Smithers said, nearly sounding affectionate.

Alex didn't comment but pulled the bag onto his back and headed out the room calling his thanks over his shoulder.

Alex left the Royal and General in a slightly better mood than when he entered it. He was about to start humming as he hailed a Taxi. Then he suddenly realised…He had to tell Jack!

**A.N. Thanks for reading, hopefully this story will be different to other 'going back to the Brecon Beacons' stories, but please Read and Review. Constructive criticisms are welcome!**

**~ Yassen Obsessive**


	3. Chapter 3

**Not There**

**A.N. Yay, another chapter written (you should be proud), this chapter is going to be sad so yeah… get the tissues out.**

**Word count: 1, 032**

**Chapter 3: **Jack

Alex knocked on the front door, hoping Jack was at home to answer. He would have usually let himself in but he had left his keys in his blazer pocket…, which was admittedly in his school bag, which, in turn, he had left at his school. Hopefully, he would be able to persuade Tom to drop it off later!

He heard the thump of footsteps, careering down the stairs and a frantic Jack with her eyes full of worry opened the door a moment later.

"Where were you?" She asked, staring intently at him. He edged inside under her outstretched arm, shutting the door behind himself as she stood there. She must have noticed some of his anger showing on his face, because she next asked,

"What's wrong?"

"You may want to sit down!" Alex replied without really answering her question. He led her gently into the living room. He noticed his black school bag resting on the sofa.

"Did Tom come round?" he asked, nodding towards the aforesaid bag.

"Yeah," she replied "and he also said that you just left in the middle of school, what happened? Was it MI6?"

"Jack, sit down…I'll explain everything!" Alex said.

He started the long and confusing explanation. He told her about MI6 taking him from school, he told her about the threat from SCORPIA and the danger he and she were in. He told her about having to leave tomorrow for the SAS camp and the protection she would have.

The one thing he didn't tell her about was his trip to Smithers' office and the gadgets he had received. Jack didn't approve of guns, not at all. So as the belt dug guiltily into his waist; he felt the sudden need to hide it, deep inside the black bag slung over his shoulder. Now…now he had a gun, it all seemed more realistic. He was in danger, and so was she.

He stood up suddenly grabbing his school bag, Jack looked at him questioningly, her blotchy face (she had been crying) twisted in confusion; he mumbled a quick

"I need to pack!" and left the room.

As soon as he was out of Jacks sight he undid his belt and dropped it into the bag on his back. He leaped up the stairs lithely in bounds. He then stepped into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He dumped the culpable black bag onto his bed, before pulling his school bag in front of him.

He pulled his phone out and looked at the screen, he had four missed calls; all from Tom. He sighed, an affectionate smile threatening to reveal itself on his lips. He pressed a few buttons on his phone before placing it next to his ear, it was dialling.

Alex waited a few minutes but when nobody answered, he settled for leaving an answer machine message requesting that Tom should, 'Stop calling and he, Alex would tell him what happened the next day at school!'

Alex set down the phone and started pulling clothes out of his draw; he only needed a few sets of normal clothes as his SAS uniform would be sufficient for most of the time.

He tucked all the gadgets Smithers had given him into the drawstring bags inner pocket. Then, he neatly packed the rest of the bag with his clothes and uniform. As an afterthought he pulled three dairy milk chocolate bars (the big ones) out of his sock draw and put them in with the gadgets.

He knew he would be lacking energy soon and the chocolate that Tom had got him for his 15th birthday seemed like a great idea!

Well he had finished packing; at least he wouldn't need to worry about that.

A sudden thud sounded downstairs alerted his attention, the sound of glass tinkled against the kitchen's tile floor!

Alex leapt up and before he knew it, he was creeping down the carpeted stairs. He tried to reason with himself, it didn't have to be a bad thing. Jack could've dropped a glass or something, but he knew… he knew it was something else, something was wrong!

He crept through the living room, adrenaline pulsing through him. He peeked around the kitchen door and he saw…nothing…at first. Jack wasn't there and definitely no SCORPIA operatives (that was what he was expecting).

Then he saw them, shards of glass on the tile floor. They shined menacingly. Glinting evilly with premeditated violence! He followed them up to the small circular hole in the window that, although small, seemed to be even more sinister than the glass.

No! He saw Jack's high heeled shoes poking out from behind the counter, like in only the worst films. It would have been comical, if it wasn't for the seriousness of the situation! Tears threatened to fall as he walked around the counter, struggling to breathe.

He saw her with a perfect circular hole in the middle of her forehead. He dropped to his knees. It was over!

What was the point in striving to live, if he had nobody to come back to?

He saw her happy laughing face and rosy cheeks. They contrasted shockingly with her already pale, cold hue. The tears started to fall; he lay beside her prone body and closed his eyes, squeezing a few more tears out. This was the last time Alex Rider cried!

He drifted, not unconscious or sleeping…he was remembering.

Jacks pallid face, Ian's car a bullet hole at head height, Sabina's despondent expression as she left him, Edward Pleasure being carted away. **All his fault!**

Wolf pale and shaking, Ben Daniels lying in a puddle of his own blood. **He didn't protect them!**

Ash, face pained, conscience tortured. Yassen, his parents…

Jack…

Jack…

Jack…

**A.N. Sorry a bit heavy. No! I'm not going to do a suicidal Alex. Oh and before I get asked Alex didn't hear the gunshot because the assassin was using a silencer XD**

**Well I'll update soon. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Not there**

**A.N. OK, new chapter. I know…I know, I haven't updated in ages please don't kill me *hides*. This chapter isn't as heavy, but please sympathise with Alex. His guardian has just died. Well R&R!**

**Chapter 4: Empty**

**Word Count: 1,185 **

Mrs Jones looked at the boy in front of her. No…he was not a boy anymore, he was a man –though he acted more like a war veteran. His chocolate brown eyes, that should have screamed his innocence, seemed to thrive in anguish.

She knew that MI6 owed this boy so much; the world owed this boy so much. But, she had her orders.

"Alex," the male barely acknowledged her, "we were terribly sorry to hear about your guardian."

He didn't even twitch; his eyes stayed cold and withdrawn.

Alex hadn't actually moved at all since he had entered the room. He knew what was going to happen to him and he welcomed it. Now jack was…gone, he would have to stay somewhere. It was obvious, where that would be.

"So, Alex, we need to talk about where you'll be staying," when the boy in question didn't reply, she continued.

"You have two choices, we will go with the original plan of sending you to the SAS _or_ you will be legally emancipated, and will stay in your uncle's house."

Alex was shocked; he couldn't believe it, legally emancipated! They were giving him…a choice! That was unusual, but maybe they knew, like he did, that however tempted he was, he had to choose the first option, the one that favoured MI6.

He had failed Jack; he hadn't been able to protect her. He hadn't been there when she needed him the most. If he couldn't look after one woman he needed training; he had made up his mind.

"Let's stick to the original plan," he said simply, there was no need to exaggerate.

Mrs Jones nodded once, she had known he was going to choose to go, but she had hoped he wouldn't. This was his single chance to get away from MI6 altogether and he had blown it.

"Right then," She said "We have assigned you a guard; he will meet you at your uncle's house in two hours. From there you and he will drive to Brecon beacons, where you will start your training. I'm afraid you may have to stay a lot longer than we first thought"

Alex nodded once and said, while looking straight at his superior,

"Yes Ma'am"

He turned to leave smartly, but Mrs Jones' slightly shaky voice stopped him,

"Take care Alex,"

He left the room quickly, not wanting to linger in the deputy heads office. Apparently Mr Blunt had been too busy to see Alex.

Mrs Jones' office had been just as grey and monotonous as her superior's, but somehow the absence of Blunt himself, had made the room seem warmer. Funny that…well not really, barely anything seemed, in the least, comical anymore, not to Alex anyway.

The teen spy turned out of the headquarters and onto Liverpool Street. He noticed the black company car, which was obviously waiting for him to climb in, but chose to ignore it. After the day he had just had he felt he definitely deserved to walk home if he so wished.

He kept his head down and walked on down the street; making himself invisible. This wasn't hard all the people he passed seemed to be getting on with everyday life; not realising that the world had ended. This was how it always was, but he was only aware of it, now that the worst had happened!

He took a longer route through the park; he wasn't hurrying to get back to his house; that's what it was now, just a house, not a _home_ anymore. He wouldn't be able to step back through the front door without recalling the devastation that had gone on inside.

Alex soon got back, however slowly he walked he couldn't stay away forever, he walked past the remaining agents from section 17*, the nondescript black cars parked in his driveway and ducked under the cliché police line that covered his open front door.

He didn't even consider moving towards the kitchen; even the thought of it brought disturbing images into the front of his mind. Instead he strolled up the stairs aimlessly not thinking…not caring, not anymore. Even when he reached his room he didn't let his mask slip, the mask that automatically came across his face when he couldn't hold himself together anymore.

It was there after his stay at skeleton key and his unfortunate trip to Russia. Jack had made it go away; she always did…but not anymore. Not now she was lying in a body bag, a perfect hole in the centre of her forehead…

Alex needed to get out, out of the house; it was bringing back too many bad memories. He grabbed his already packed bag and fled from the house. He sat down on the pavement the other side of the street, head in his hands.

He was still there an hour later, in the same prone position; another dark windowed car drew up beside him. He stood slowly, joints clicking into place. The driver got out, walked round the car and pulled Alex into a hug.

Alex didn't react, he had recognised the dark hair and brown eyes of Agent Ben Daniels (AKA Fox) just before the unwanted hug (Luckily for Ben of course, because if Alex hadn't known him he would be lying on the floor groaning by now). Ben pulled away and looked into Alex's emotionless eyes; he started to speak, choosing his words carefully.

"Alex…"

"Ben" the teenage spy replied dryly

"…I'm so sorry… is there anything I can do?" The older man blurted out the question before really thinking.

Alex stayed silent.

"Alex…I can see you're hurting but you need to speak about it at some point…"

Silence again

"Alex?"

Alex opened the passenger side of the car and sat down gracefully, not once did a word slip past his lips. He hoped Ben would understand, he didn't want to make small talk right now, he didn't have the patience.

Ben stood a few seconds on the pavement dejectedly before walking round the car and getting in. He started the car and drove away, he stayed silent for ten minutes or so, continuing to drive towards that place that Alex had fondly named 'Hell on earth' subsequent to his visit, when it seemed like the whole journey would be spent in silence, he spoke up…

"I just want you to know that I'm here for you".

A few more minutes passed,

"Thanks Ben"

Alex turned to the window and stared out at the world beyond not really watching…thinking, lost in the depths of his mind.

***The clean- up guys.**

**A.N. What do you think is going to happen when they arrive? What do you think about Ben and Alex's relationship? Do you think Alex made the right choice?**

**Sorry again about not updating**

**I'll update soon. I promise XD**

**~Yassen Obsessive**


	5. Chapter 5

**Not There**

**A.N. See I updated quickly, really quickly in fact. I hope you appreciate it XD I did it to say sorry for not updating last time for months. Anyway I bet you can guess what happens in this XD**

**Word Count: 1,266**

**Chapter 5: Thin files**

The car journey went past too quickly; Alex had, metaphorically, turned off for the two hours it had taken to drive to Wales. He was lulled out of his trance when the blare of a car horn had him sitting up ram rod straight in his seat, staring wide-eyed at his surroundings.

They were already in the familiar winding path of Brecon Beacons Country Park and would soon enter the large piece of land owned by the ministry of defence. Their sleek black car turned a corner, driven expertly by Agent Daniels (who Alex hadn't spoken for the majority of the journey), and the black and yellow striped bar blocking their path came into view.

It was manned by two burly looking soldiers, standard SAS rifles slung over their shoulders. The car drew up beside them and after Ben had shown them a scrap of paper he had hastily pulled out of his inside pocket, they raised the bar to let them in.

Ben parked the car next to the military style jeeps that you would stereotypically find at any army base. He climbed out at the same time as Alex and both Agents walked round to the boot of the car where Ben's travel bag was found. Alex's had been hurriedly stuffed under his feet when he first climbed in.

They both walked the familiar route to the sergeant's office, Alex slightly in front. Ben knocked sharply on his door and waited for the customary shout of 'Come in'. Sure enough after a few seconds the shout filtered through the door and Ben turned the handle.

Sergeant Randall wasn't having a good day, the new recruits had been cheeky during their morning run and although that would normally please their sadistic superior, it just frustrated him. The fact that these…boys were soon to become the country's best military task force. The fact that he couldn't hold back more than four of the twenty candidates, who were obviously not ready.

Anyway that had annoyed him, even though he had given all of them twenty laps of the assault course to do in their own time, what's worse is that when he came back, an email was waiting saying that two agents from MI6 were going to be staying for _protection_, 'same old story' the sergeant thought to himself 'military intelligence are always needing our help'.

He had called for information on both of them as soon as he found out and he was glad to see that one of the Agents was Fox, an old hand at the SAS camp and a former member of the well-known k-unit.

The other agent he had no idea about, he had one of the thinnest files the sergeant had ever seen. Randall had ten out of thirteen clearance, quite high for a sergeant, but this agent had a file full of top level missions that Randall was unable to see.

A knock was heard at the door, so Randall yelled the usual 'Come in' and the handle turned. Two men walked in and stood at the sergeant's desk, straight as a ruler and hands pointing towards their heads. No…wait, not two men, one man and a boy; his less broad shoulders and slimmer build gave that away.

Randall recognised the man, his old soldier, Fox, defected to MI6 soon after completing his training. That must indicate that the boy was the top level agent; this was not possible a child no old than 17 doing the work of a grown man…but his eyes…his eyes told a different story, a story full of despair, a story full of horrors that not even the sergeant was likely to see.

He had been staring at them for a full minute, both men he decided; the agent had earned that much. He decided to break the silence,

"At ease" The two men relaxed, bringing their arms to their sides.

"Okay you two will be staying with k-unit" He said

"Agent Daniels' old unit" He explained to the mysterious Agent.

This brought forth an unusual reaction; the agent smirked slightly and said,

"Yes sir, I know sir…don't you remember me sir"

The sergeant scrutinised the young man, from his unkempt dirty blonde hair to his scarred hands and arms. He was familiar that's for sure; he pulled the file towards him again it read:

**Name: Alex **** ***** **

**DoB: 2****nd**** of February 19****

**Status: Available**

**Clearance: 13/13**

**Health: Good, see medical file for possible problems (Level 12 clearance needed)**

**Fitness: Excellent**

**Joined MI6: 1 year ago**

**Missions completed: 7 (not including small intelligence gathering or sub-missions)**

**Missions failed: 0**

**Training: SAS course, Sniping (and hand gun), Kayaking, Rock claiming, white water rafting, surfing, first aid, poison, wind surfing, swimming, sailing, skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, A-TV's, lock picking, con art, karate (and multiple other fighting styles), driving, tactic escapes, mapping, archery, fencing, piloting licenses, … Agent has had other CLASSIFIED training, and not all skills have been mentioned.**

**Spoken Languages: English, Spanish, German, French, and Japanese, has started learning Russian**

**Relatives/ Acquaintances: *********

This told Randall barely anything, only the guy's birthday and his skills, wait he'd been to the SAS before it said so in his file. But the kid was too young to have been there before. Wait...No…Could it be? These thoughts flew through the sergeant's mind before he spoke,

"Cub?"

"Yes sir," Alex replied feeling less than comfortable under the sergeant's scrutiny.

"It is you!" He exclaimed, "…Well you've certainly changed since you were last here."

When Alex didn't say anything the sergeant continued,

"Is there any reason why I can't read most of your file?"

"I couldn't say sir," the boy replied calmly, Randall raised one eyebrow in question but soon let it go, the boy looked ill, behind the hard mask of a typical MISO agent, lay a frightened child that was never let out.

"As I was saying, you two will be staying with K-unit, who will be arriving in about half an hour. If you want to go down to the cabin now to unpack go ahead." Sergeant Randall paused,

"One more thing before you leave…Cub, K-unit will not be happy about this especially Wolf, so take it easy okay? From what I've seen in your file, if they annoy you too much, you could take them on without too much trouble. What I'm saying is please refrain from attacking my soldiers!"

"Sir Yes Sir" Alex barked out, before turning gracefully and following Fox out of the room.

The pair started walking down the muddy trail to k-unit's cabin in silence. The familiar landscape bought back bad memories for Alex, whose last stay at the Brecon Beacons was full of rubbish insults and minor assault, not to mention the fact he was blackmailed into going there.

Well he was determined that this time he would work hard, he would learn and train and most importantly he would not create any lasting bonds with anyone, because he couldn't bear to lose anybody else!

**A.N. Hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for its shortness. What do you think of Alex's attitude?**

**Do you think he will be able to keep that determination not to make friends? Well we all know the answer to that don't we XD**

**I'll update soon promise**

**~Yassen Obsessive**


End file.
